Bambie Thug ‘super proud’ to reach Eurovision final

Ireland’s Eurovision entry Bambie Thug, singing Doomsday Blue, has said they are “super proud” to have qualified for Saturday’s final in Malmö, Sweden.

As was widely expected, the Cork singer was among the ten acts to qualify from the first semi-final last night at the Malmö Arena.

15 acts took to the stage last night, with ten acts going on to qualify for the final.

After voting, the final ten from last night’s semi-final who were going through were then called out in no particular order, and eager fans had to wait until eventually Ireland’s name was announced ninth on the list, just after Croatia.

All week, Bambie Thug has been climbing steadily in the bookies lists of potential winners, and they hit fifth place yesterday morning after their final rehearsal, so there was pressure on Bambie Thug to deliver the performance Irish fans have been waiting for since 2018, and they did.

We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

It went seamlessly and was received enthusiastically by the crowd inside the arena, but it was the audience at home tuning in who made the decision and thankfully for Ireland, ‘Doomsday Blue’ made an impression.

Bambie said afterwards that “I’m super proud” and speaking afterwards, their mother Laura told RTÉ News that “I’m so delighted and so relieved and so proud”.

Bambie Thug later told a press conference in Malmo they were forced to change their body paint in Ogham script – an early Medieval alphabet – which translated to ceasefire and freedom, a nod to the situation in Gaza and amid Israel’s inclusion in the competition.

A spokeswoman for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said: “The writing seen on Bambie Thug’s body during dress rehearsals contravened contest rules that are designed to protect the non-political nature of the event.

“After discussions with the Irish delegation, they agreed to change the text for the live show.”

The second semi-final takes place tomorrow night and then Irish fans will be tuning in on Saturday night for the Eurovision grand final on RTÉ One.